I had only one objective for this years Living Room Christmas Mantel...

keep the grapevine garland that I used for my Thanksgiving Mantel up on the fireplace, and incorporate it into the design.

That's it.

For one, I like it there. I like that it gives a whole new dimension to the fireplace, on top of being natural and rustic. But my other reason (which is probably the real reason) is that it was such a pain to get up there in the first place that I need to keep it up as long as I can and make all of the effort that Owen and I put into getting it to stay in place, worth it!

Luckily, it was easy to incorporate, and I think it worked out wonderfully...

The grapevine garland was the perfect (and obvious) place to hang Christmas balls - in red and silver to match our Christmas tree on the other side of the room...

The rest of the mantle came together easily, using just a few simple items:

a recycled glass bowl to hold red glass balls and pinecones...

large lanterns to hold red candles and a bit of faux snow...

(the best faux snow I have found, in fact!)

another swag of cedar garland (see, I told you I couldn't resist!) and some twinkling lights...

The ottoman sitting in front of the fireplace came with our sectional that we purchased for the Family Room this past summer, but I'm not big on "sets" and like to break them up as much as I can. So the ottoman sits here. Unfortunately, we don't ever use this fireplace - it has a glass front that gets really, really hot and with three kids and a puppy running around, I'd rather not take the chance at someone brushing against it and getting burned.

But this way actually works out quite well. The ottoman gets used in the Living Room, in that spot, way more than I thought it would, which is great...

...but I'm thinking this just might be the perfect perch for the kids...